Furbolg ideas
One of the most likely possible races (in the author's mind) as put forward by fans for future expansions is thought to be furbolgs. There has even been a plausible storyline made up for them to show their implementability as a race. Classes A few of the suggested classes are stated thus: Priest This would logical for a number of reasons; furbolgs are meant to be monastic therefore religious. Furthermore, the furbolgs in the night elf campaign refer to Elune and praise her, so it is likely that some cult of Elune exists within furbolg culture. Alternatively, their strong connection to Ursoc and Ursol, the bear demigods, would provide a perfect cult. Rogue This is more to do with monks than assassins. There are a number of reasons why a furbolg would become a rogue: corruption, adaption to their shadowy cave environment, guerrilla warfare (logical) or alternative monk fighting methods etc. Use your imagination. Anyway, this wouldn't be as stupid as it sounds. Furbolgs are not actually an enormous race like the tauren, rather just around human/NE height. They may be wide, but not too much more than an orc. Just imagine the look on the enemy's face when a giant bear wearing black materialises behind them... Druid This is likely, due to the nature loving spirituality of the furbolgs and the presence of Rejuvination and Faerie Fire as furbolg spells in Warcraft III. Druidism would be particularly fitting if the furbolgs are included in an Emerald Dream Expansion. Warrior Furbolg have a long warrior tradition and many furbolgs with warrior-like abilities (such as using two-handed swords, having Beserker-like abilities etc.) exist within the game currently. Hunter The furbolg trapper is a unit in Warcraft III. This, combined with the hunter-gatherer society that the furbolgs exhibit indicates that hunting will be of great importance to furbolg culture. Warlock This represents the corruption seeping from Felwood. The furbolgs aren't all a kind and nature-loving race, and some may prefer to go against the teachings of their totemic gods. Alternatively, the furbolg warlock may think that the only way to save their race is to willfully embrace the enemy as their allies. The problem is how to fit them on felsteeds, though it is possible that a simple increase in the felsteed size may suffice. Shaman The furbolgs are known to have a long shamanic tradition and a number of in-game shamans (one of which is even a shaman trainer), so it would be unreasonable not to give them the shaman class. What have they got going for them? furbolg tribe in Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos. They, along with the dark trolls, aided the night elves under Malfurion Stormrage in their defense of the Hyjal summit in the Battle of Mount Hyjal.]] There are several factors that suggest the furbolgs as a likely race; especially for the Alliance due to their close links to the furbolg tribes, the most notable being the Stillpine of the Azuremyst Isles, one of which is even a shaman trainer for the draenei in the Exodar: Old alliances and tribes Furbolgs used to be the strongest allies of the night elves until the Burning Legion corrupted most of them. Those furbolgs that were corrupted became aggressive and feral. Only a few tribes escaped corruption like the Timbermaw inhabiting areas of land around Hyjal. Some uncorrupted furbolgs in game say the Timbermaw are the only tribe that escaped corruption, but this is obviously untrue - the Stillpine of the Azuremyst Isles and Krolg of Ashenvale are living proof that the Timbermaw furbolgs, trapped in their hold for years, have little knowledge of life beyond the borders of Hyjal. It is also believed that Barkskin tribe still lives upon the slopes of Hyjal, untouched by the madness below them. Anyway, if there is any need for bending the lore, it would be a minor sacrifice considering there is a plausible excuse and the other positive aspects to furbolgs being a player race. Blizzard have already shown that, if a player race appears particularly suitable for expansion content, they are willing to undertake a retcon to enable the race's joining one faction or another (the draenei being a prime example). Why would the player furbolgs be uncorrupted? Either they could be on an island far from Kalimdor like the Stillpine or in an isolated territory like Hyjal - the Timbermaw's purity, for example, could be explained by their inhabiting the lowlands around the mountains. Furthermore, a tribe of furbolgs could theoretically live underground, and thus be protected to a certain extent from the corruption of the surface forest. Note that a small tribe of furbolgs managed to hide in the Barrow Deeps during the Warcraft III night elf campaign. In addition to this, the generic pro-life ethos of the furbolgs fits in with that of the Alliance and especially the night elves and draenei. Also, they may find a friend in the dwarves, another race that has a tendency to live underground. Finally, it should be noted that with the expansion, a furbolg has been added as a shaman trainer in the Exodar, capital of the draenei. It is likely that this will be expanded on in the future. The state of Hyjal Hyjal has been confirmed as a raid instance. That is, a 'past battleground' in the Caverns of Time in the Expansion. The 'current' Hyjal would be used as the furbolgs starter area. There is, as well as this, a large 'grey' area below Hyjal which could be remodelled or possibly even made into an underground level 10-20 secondary area (the Barrow Deeps springs to mind - possibly even complete with a new instance (Illidan's Prison) complete with a group of rather hostile Wardens) before opening into Ashenvale somewhere around Xavian, a nice 20+ area for the wee furbolgs to scamper round in. Either this, or it could link to a 20+ contested zone in the Emerald Dream (an area they are very closely connected to) or alternatively an area skirting around the north-east edge of Kalimdor. The Barrow Deeps As mentioned above, the Barrow Deeps, as yet un-utilised in game, have significant potential for being a furbolg dominated zone, perhaps even a starting area, if Hyjal is occupied with a raid instance. Firstly, the Barrow Deeps were colonised by at least one tribe of furbolgs (see above) in order to avoid the corruption. Secondly, furbolgs are well known for contructing their most sizeable dwellings underground (a good example is Thistlefur Hold in Ashenvale.) In addition, many underground instances are filled with plant and animal life, so it is perfectly possible that an inhabitable cave could be used by a furbolg tribe without it ever having to visit the surface. Finally, the idea of an entirely underground zone is as-yet unexploited by Blizzard, so using the Barrow Deeps as a starting area would be certainly original, novel and interesting. Ugly, cool and furry The Horde have mostly 'ugly races', and only one 'pretty race'. The Alliance, however, seems to be made up entirely of 'pretty' races (the dwarves, draenei and gnomes, however, are debateable...). Therefore, it would make sense for the Alliance to have an 'ugly race' to balance out the factions. The furbolgs fit perfectly - they are a feasable race that is 'ugly' in the same way as the Horde. It is worthy of note that Blizzard usually only picks races on a basis of either being 'cool' - in the sense of being similar to a popular fantasy creature or a real life race - or 'pretty'. Some people are 'furry fans' who would enjoy the idea of playing as cute and fuzzy overgrown teddy bears. Furbolgs might fit the bill of providing a 'different' and 'cool' if not 'ugly' race that appeals to that subset of players. Graphical overhaul Furbolgs are a race in need of a graphical overhaul - or at least another model. So far, there has only been one furbolg model used to cover the hundreds of different furbolgs in the world, including the several tribes that make an entry in The Burning Crusade. They are a common race, but with only one model between them, reality and a loincloth stretches pretty thin. Design issues are no problem in any case - the problems encountered with furbolgs need not be any more difficult than those experienced by taurens in the making of World of Warcraft. They in fact have a rather similar physiology to the tauren - the hump, the fur... Also, furbolgs would involve the production of a bear-like model file that could be theoretically used to produce pandaren NPCs, a race created by the Blizzard artist Samwise Didier and favoured by many. Civilisation The bear-men are proven to be a relatively advanced race; maybe even moreso than the tauren. Evidence of their abilities include: *''Masonry'': See the inhabited Timbermaw Hold, a tunnel carved out of solid rock and lined with wood; and the other Timbermaw Hold in Azshara, which is a large stone fortress (quite possibly constructed by the furbolgs). Also, the three enormous bear-headed wood and stone entrances to Timbermaw Hold in Felwood, Moonglade and Winterspring are further evidence of their strength in this craft. *''Linguistic skills'': Timbermaw furbolgs and Krolg in Ashenvale are perfect evidence that the Furbolgs have the ability to communicate perfectly with other sentient races. *''Carpentry and craftsmanship'': The furbolg huts, carvings, mats, dream catchers and miscellania at all furbolg villages indicate that the furbolgs possess much skill within these disciplines. *''Drinking!'': It is quite likely that, like their pandaren relatives, the furbolgs follow on from their demigod patrons Ursol and Ursoc in appreciating fine drink. This would also be useful in Kalimdor as currently there is nowhere the Alliance can go in Kalimdor to buy alcohol - furbolg terratories would fill that void. Flexible classes: no more class problems The furbolg class options are extremely flexible and could redress the lack of hunters and hybrids in the Alliance, while not making the lack of priests and rogues in the Horde worse (priests and rogues are not necessary as furbolg classes: - they could just have warlocks, hunters, druids, shamans and warriors). City Furbolgs have had ample time to set up their own city and repopulate a starting region. After all, no-one has entered Hyjal or the Barrow Deeps in years. RP variety Furbolgs have a high capacity for RP variety, their appearance beaing rather easy to apply to different scenarios - try and imagine a Keeper as a drunken pirate and you can see what I mean... Battleground .]] There will one day be a battleground in Azshara. The entrances for both factions have been placed in Azshara, though the actual battleground does not yet exist. There are also both Furbolg and Blood Elf encampments in relatively close proximity in Azshara. As the Blood Elves are a Horde race, this placement could set up the primary conflict in the new Azshara battleground. C'Thun and the furbolgs There has been speculation about C'Thun being the taint affecting the furbolgs in Feralas (with the taint of the Burning Legion affecting those in North Kalimdor). C'Thun would not need to be the only corrupter, there are of course three other Old Gods rumoured to be imprisoned under the Tirisfal Glades or nearby Quel'Thalas. With C`Thuns death in Ahn`Quiraj the furbolgs could have broken free of the Old Gods grip. This would mean a possible boost to the furbolg faction's population. Other furbolg factions One of the main arguments against furbolgs is that with their inclusion, the Timbermaw faction would have to be taken out of the game. This would not be needed. There are Wildhammer dwarves and Ironforge dwarves, as well as the Zandalar Tribe from Zul'Gurub and the Hordish Darkspear troll tribe. We could easily have the Timbermaw and the playable furbolg tribe. Northrend and the furbolgs If all else fails and the Kalimdorian furbolgs are not chose, there is also a more feral race of furbolgs populating parts of Northrend - these polar furbolgs could be a suitable alternative to their normal relatives in a Northrend expansion. Category:Furbolgs Category:Rumors